Victoria's Secret unveiled: Lingerie chain to set up in former HMV store in Vancouver

Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel poses for photographs at the company's first Canadian store at West Edmonton Mall in 2010. The American...more

Victoria's Secret model Candice Swanepoel poses for photographs at the company's first Canadian store at West Edmonton Mall in 2010. The American lingerie chain will set up a flagship store in a 35,000-square-foot space on two levels at Robson and Burrard in Vancouver.

VANCOUVER -- The long-awaited opening of an American lingerie chain was made not-so-secret Thursday.

Victoria's Secret will set up a flagship store in a 35,000-square-foot space on two levels at Robson and Burrard, Bob Nicholson property manager with Morguard, confirmed. After nearly a year of negotiations, the company will take possession in September, and is expected to open for business in May 2013. Before vacating the building last fall, former tenant HMV paid $80 per square foot in annual rent, though Nicholson would not reveal how much the lingerie giant would pay.

"This is a huge investment on their part. It's a flagship store, so they're expecting big things from it. And I think it's going to be a huge addition to the downtown area," Nicholson said.

Numerous other American chains have expanded into Vancouver lately, bucking the downward trend for retail sales across Canada reported this week.

The same Statistics Canada numbers that showed national retail sales dropped 0.4 per cent from May to June, showed clothing sales are actually on the rise, up 4 per cent from last year after a particularly bad 2011.

The yearly growth rates paint a clearer picture than monthly rates, said Retail BC president Mark Startup. Month-to-month-fluctuations can reflect a number of factors, "not just whether the total retail sales climate is soft or strong," Startup said.

Overall retail spending in B.C. was up 1.8 per cent to $5.1 billion from June 2011 to June 2012. Retail analyst David Ian Gray said the slight increase was "not spectacular," and while clothing was rebounding, other sectors continued to struggle, like electronics and department stores.

"There's winners and losers across the board, but it's not a robust growth," Gray said. "It's modest growth and it doesn't mean everyone's doing equally well."

Before the 2008 recession, growth rates of five to 10 per cent were considered normal in B.C., he said.

While downtown Vancouver real estate remains in high demand from foreign, mostly U.S. retailers, "sluggish" sales have pushed the number of empty storefronts to record highs in some areas, states a new report from commercial realtor CBRE.

Overall, the availability rate — property available for lease — for streetfront space in the core is a "relatively healthy" 4 per cent, but the rate on some parts of Robson Street have soared to nearly nine per cent, a rate not seen in more than a decade, the CBRE said.

Between Jervis and Denman streets, the availability rate is 8.9 per cent, and between Hornby and Jervis streets, 6.5 per cent of store fronts are available, according to the analysis done for CBRE's Mid-Year Vancouver Urban Trends Special Report. The high availability was attributed to real estate-"cautious" companies, and the emergence of high-end shopping districts on Granville and Alberni streets, as well as a revamped Pacific Centre.

In comparison, Denman Street's availability rate is 2.35 per cent, and Davie Street 1.96 per cent.

CBRE analyst Anthio Yuen said that although Robson Street has been troubled by a recent retailer exodus, vacancies have been "intermittent," with new stores moving in, like J. Crew, Forever 21 and Camper Shoes.

"In terms of activity, demand for retailers hasn't been that crazy," Yuen said. But "we've seen certain groups, a few certain brands or certain retailers extremely active in the market," he said, pointing to mid- to high-end clothing, fast food and financial services as growth sectors.